Google has confirmed plans to merge YouTube Red and Play Music into a new streaming service. YouTube\u2019s head of music said the move was necessary to take the services forward and attract new subscribers, but he insists nothing will change without plenty of notice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
YouTube Red and Play Music already come as one package; when you subscriber to one, you get access to the other with it. But they\u2019re still very much separate services that offer different things, and that can be confusing for new users. It\u2019s also hurting YouTube Red, which doesn\u2019t seem to be as popular with music fans as it should be.<\/p>\n
Lyor Cohen, YouTube\u2019s head of music, said the company was taking steps to change that. \u201cThe important thing is combining YouTube Red and Google Play Music, and having one offering,\u201d he revealed during a panel session for the New Music Seminar conference in New York. He didn\u2019t specify whether both apps would be combined into one, but that seems unlikely.<\/p>\n
Cohen added that he wanted greater collaboration with music labels and rights holders, \u201cand not just making deals and going away and seeing how it works.\u201d Combining the two services could make that a whole lot simpler.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic is very important to Google and we\u2019re evaluating how to bring together our music offerings to deliver the best possible product for our users, music partners and artists,\u201d Google later said in a statement to The Verge. \u201cNothing will change for users today and we\u2019ll provide plenty of notice before any changes are made.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no timeframe for the merger yet, but given that it\u2019s now confirmed by Google and Cohen is taking about it publicly, it can\u2019t be far off.<\/p>\n